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Issues Associated with Alcohol Consumption

In 2011, the rate of alcohol-impaired driving fatalities per 100,000 population was 3.2, representing a 65% decrease since 1982, when record keeping began, and 49% since the inception of The Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility in 1991. What this translates into is, for every 100,000 people in the US in 2011, slightly more than three people were killed in a drunk driving fatal crash, a rate that has been cut almost in half over the past two decades - down from a rate of 6.3 in 1991.

Alcohol-impaired driving fatalities accounted for 31% of the total vehicle traffic fatalities in 2011. Between 1991 and 2011, the rate of drunk driving fatalities per 100,000 population has decreased 49% nationally, and 63% among those under 21. These statistics and others are positive indicators of the gains being made to fight drunk driving, and while The Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility cannot claim to be the sole influence in these reductions, it is likely we have played a significant role in reaching these historic low levels. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 32,367 people died in traffic crashes in 2011 in the United States (latest figures available), including an estimated 9,878 people who were killed in drunk driving crashes involving a driver with an illegal BAC (.08 or greater). Among the people killed in these drunk driving crashes, 66% were drivers (6,507), 27% were motor vehicle occupants (2,661), and 7% were non-occupants (710), with an average of one person dying in a drunk driving fatality every 53 minutes.